The match between Inter Kediri and Persikasi Bekasi in the first match of Group J of the national League 4 at the Brawijaya Stadium, Kediri City, East Java, ended in a goalless draw.
Since the beginning of the match, both teams played attacking each other and the match was fierce. Both teams created several chances but no goals were scored until the end of the match.
Inter Kediri coach Budiardjo Thalib admitted that this result was not as expected because the players were still in the process of adapting and experiencing tension in the opening match.
"In this first match, we only got one point. This is not a good result for our team. During the briefing, I already told the players, usually the first match is nervous and tense," said Budiardjo in Kediri.
He added that Inter Kediri is dominated by young players and still needs a lot of motivation and strategy improvements.
In this match, Inter used a 3-5-2 formation at the start of the match, but then changed it to 4-3-3 in the second half to strengthen the defense.
"The initial formation was 3-5-2, then in the second half we changed it to 4-3-3. We also brought in Nosi to replace Levi, as part of a strategy to strengthen the defense. This change was quite effective," he explained.